U.S. calls on Iran to free American Washington Post reporter

The United States on Monday called on Iran to release a Washington Post reporter, his wife and two freelancers arrested in Tehran last week.

Tehran’s chief justice Gholamhossein Esmaili on Friday confirmed the arrest of Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian, 38, and his wife Yeganeh Salehi.

“We call on the Iranian government to immediately release Mr. Rezaian and the other three individuals. We continue to monitor the situation closely,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

Rezaian has been the Post correspondent in Tehran since 2012 and holds both American and Iranian citizenship, according to the newspaper.

His wife is an Iranian, who has applied for U.S. permanent residency, and works as a correspondent for a newspaper based in the United Arab Emirates, the Post said.

Washington and Tehran do not have diplomatic ties and Psaki said the U.S. had reached out to the Swiss embassy, which acts as a go-between on such issues inside Iran, to try to ensure that consular officials can visit Rezaian.